Long time gamer but new to X-Wing. Just bought v2 as a Christmas gift. Does anyone have recommendations for a good playing surface or mat? Does anything come in the box to get you started? What size playing area is good for beginners?

The basic rules (ie : none of the tokens and special tricks) are easy to learn (I’d say one hour max). You’ll find that maneuvering your spaceships can be enough of a challenge. Especially if you’re going to be teaching it to kids and people with less afinity with wargames (although Roborally veterans may have an advantage here ;-)).

Cheap option, but for space hulk, I just used my coblestreets mat upsidedown, which gave me a matt black backdrop. Works for space hulk as you see hardly any of the mat, but may not suit xwing so well.